Episode Summary
The steering group's investigation is abruptly shut down, forcing the disillusioned team to disband and leave Dongping. Their key witness, Zhang Wenjing, is abducted after being threatened. Facing professional and personal setbacks, Hong Liang makes the drastic decision to resign from his position as a prosecutor to reunite with his family in Beijing. This choice leads to a heartbreaking confrontation with his father, who views the resignation as a betrayal of his values. Despite this setback, high-level officials Yan Licheng and Zhang Fang resolve to continue their fight against the powerful criminal forces, planning a more decisive future move.
Spoiler Alert
In the Name of Justice, Episode 16: The Center Cannot Hold
The walls are closing in from all sides in the latest episode of "In the Name of Justice." The steering group's investigation comes to a screeching, demoralizing halt, leaving the team scattered and questioning everything.
The episode kicks off with a frantic search for Zhang Wenjing. Zheng Yaping and Bai Ziyan rush to the Dongping bus station after hearing she was leaving for Jiangnan. They search the bus, but she's nowhere to be found. In a heart-wrenching twist, we see that Zhang Wenjing was intercepted and led away by two men who threatened her using her own daughter. She spots her friends from a distance but is too terrified to call out, forced to comply with her captors.
Meanwhile, the steering group is officially dismantled. A dejected Hong Liang returns to Dongping only to be confronted by more professional and personal failures. Ma Chongyang expresses his bitter disappointment in Hong Liang for handing over a key USB drive to Zhang Fang, lamenting the darkness of bureaucracy. The entire team, including Zheng Yaping, Bai Ziyan, Wang Chunxiang, and Zhang Huaien, packs up to leave Dongping, their tireless work seemingly amounting to nothing. During a somber farewell dinner, Zheng Yaping encourages Bai Ziyan to follow her dream of becoming a lawyer, a poignant moment of support amidst the collapse of their current mission.
The fallout sends Hong Liang into a spiral, culminating in a life-altering decision. After a tense reunion with his old university acquaintance Li Renjun, where past rivalries and future ambitions clash, Hong Liang drives home to see his parents. He arrives in his prosecutor's uniform, filling them with pride as they snap photos. But the joy is short-lived. Hong Liang announces he is resigning to take a job as a legal director in Beijing, a choice made to reunite with his wife, Jiang Min, and daughter, Doudou. His parents are devastated. His father, who took immense pride in his son's decade-long journey to become a prosecutor, furiously accuses him of trading honor for money and shamefully orders him to remove the uniform.
Even as the team on the ground is forced to retreat, the fight is not over. In the final moments, Zhang Fang reports the group's withdrawal to a pained Yan Licheng. Acknowledging the powerful forces working against them, Yan vows that they will not give up. Their next strike, he insists, must be precise, powerful, and absolute to finally bring down the entire criminal network.
